Williams & Connolly: What Law Students Should Know

Williams & Connolly is a trial firm. Not a litigation firm that mostly settles, a trial firm that trains its lawyers to stand up in a courtroom and win. With roughly 300 attorneys in a single Washington DC office, the firm is a fraction of the size of its Vault peers. It outranks firms with ten times its headcount because the quality of the trial work is simply on a different level.

The Basics

• Vault Rank: #18
• Headquarters: Washington DC
• Offices: Washington DC (single office)
• Size: ~300 attorneys
• Starting Salary: $225,000

What They Are Known For

Trial work. Williams & Connolly was founded by Edward Bennett Williams, one of the most famous trial lawyers of the 20th century. The firm's identity is built around preparing cases for trial and actually trying them. In a legal industry where 95% of cases settle, W&C's willingness and ability to go to verdict is its defining characteristic.

The practice covers litigation broadly: complex commercial disputes, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, intellectual property, First Amendment and media law, and appellate advocacy. But the common thread is the courtroom. Whatever the subject matter, W&C approaches it as trial lawyers.

White collar defense is a particular strength. The firm has defended presidents, senators, executives, and companies in the most high-profile criminal investigations in American history. When someone powerful faces criminal exposure in Washington, W&C is on the short list.

IP litigation has grown significantly. The firm handles patent, trade secret, and other IP disputes, applying the same trial-focused approach that defines the rest of the practice.

Appellate work is excellent. The firm regularly argues before the Supreme Court and the DC Circuit, and the appellate practice benefits from being embedded within a firm that understands trial strategy, the lawyers who brief the appeals often worked the trials.

There is no corporate practice. No M&A. No banking. No tax. If it does not involve a dispute, W&C does not do it.

Culture and Assignment

Williams & Connolly uses an assignment system managed by a committee. Associates receive work from across the firm's practice areas, you might work on a white collar investigation one month and a patent trial the next. The system is designed to give junior associates broad litigation exposure before they develop a specialty.

The culture is intense, meritocratic, and small enough that everyone knows everyone. With 300 attorneys in one office, there is no anonymity. Partners know your name, your work product, and your potential. The flip side is that there is no hiding, if your work is weak, it will be noticed.

Training is exceptional. W&C is famous for putting junior associates on their feet in court earlier than almost any other firm. You will take depositions, argue motions, and possibly examine witnesses at trial within your first few years. At most BigLaw firms, associates do not see the inside of a courtroom for five or six years. At W&C, courtroom exposure starts early.

The firm is also known for intense work hours, particularly during trial preparation. When a trial is approaching, the demands are enormous. Between trials, the pace can be more reasonable.

Summer Program

Williams & Connolly's summer class is small, typically 20-30 summers. This reflects the firm's overall size and its selectivity. The program is highly regarded and gives summers real litigation work: research memos, draft motions, and observation of courtroom proceedings.

The small class means partners invest individually in each summer. You will not be anonymous. You will have meaningful interactions with senior attorneys who will remember you when hiring decisions are made.

Offer rates are high. W&C hires carefully and does not bring on summers it does not plan to keep.

Offices

There is one office: Washington DC. This is a single-office firm by deliberate choice. The founders believed that a law firm is most effective when all of its lawyers work in the same building, and that philosophy has not changed.

The single-office model means that if you want to practice in DC, W&C is an elite option. If you want to practice anywhere else, you need to look at a different firm. There is no New York satellite, no LA outpost, no international expansion plan.

The DC location also shapes the practice. The firm's proximity to the federal government makes it a natural home for white collar defense, government investigations, and First Amendment work. Many of the firm's matters involve federal agencies, congressional investigations, or the federal courts.

Compensation

Williams & Connolly matches the Cravath scale. $225,000 base for first-years with a $21,000 bonus. Total first-year comp: approximately $246,000.

For a firm of its size, matching the full Cravath scale is notable. It reflects the firm's profitability and its commitment to competing with the largest firms for the best talent.

Who Should Apply

Williams & Connolly is the right firm for students who want to be trial lawyers. Not litigators who write briefs and settle cases, trial lawyers who stand up in courtrooms and try cases. If you want courtroom experience earlier than almost anywhere else, a single-office culture where everyone knows your name, and the prestige of a firm that has been winning the hardest cases in America for decades, W&C is the answer.

If you want geographic flexibility, a corporate practice to fall back on, or a large peer class, this is not the firm. But if you want to walk into a courtroom and know that the institution behind you has been training lawyers to win trials for over half a century, there is no better place.